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Erykah Foss
Mr. Pace
DC English IV, 1​st
The Odyssey​ Essay
15 October 2019
Women Have The Power

Humans have a web of relationships that grows with years. There are different bonds

formed between father and son, mother and daughter, leader and follower, man and woman. In

ancient Greece, women had two purposes: childbirth and domestic labor. These were the only

values men saw in them, which is why women were not given rights or the power of decision.

Homer’s epic poem ​The Odessey​ defies these social normalities by creating female characters

with personality and putting them into roles that were unheard of for women to possess. In a

male-dominated world, Homer portrayed the women as independent and intelligent beings to

advocate for women’s rights.

One of the monsters Odysseus and his men encounter is Scylla, a six-headed, female sea

monster. Circe, a sorceress who turned the men into pigs, warned them of the beast: “She is no

mortal thing but a mischief immortal, dangerous, difficult and bloodthirsty, and there is no

fighting against her, nor any force of defense. It is best to run away from her.” (148). Scylla is

too powerful to travel around without losing men, which forces Odysseus to choose between

staying on the island with his men and Circe for the rest of his days or navigating around the

creature, risking the safety of his men. Although a monster can have negative connotations to

ugliness and evil, Scylla is a powerful force that devours men.

Another powerful character is Athene, the goddess of wisdom. She is the most critical

driving character in ​The Odyssey.​ She first convinces Telemachus to form a crew and set sail to

several kingdoms to discover the whereabouts of his father. When Telemachus feels unsure of
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himself, she encourages him, like when he spoke to Nestor: “Then, in turn, the gray-eyed

goddess Athene answered him: ‘Telemachus, some of it you yourself will see in your own heart,

and some the divinity will put in your mind. I do not think you could have been born and reared

without the gods’ will’” (26). She also helps Odysseus find his way home by convincing Zeus to

free him from Calypso and guiding him to an island with a kind king, where he received a ship to

return home. Athene’s confidence, intelligence, and ability to decide and lead are all traits that

would go unnoticed or punished in real life at the time.

The love of Odysseus’ life, Penelope, remains loyal and strong-willed throughout the

epic. Ithaca did not have a king for over nine years (during and after the Trojan War), and

Penelope is expected by her people to remarry so they have a king. Many suitors follow her

around and attempt to impress the queen. Although she allows her suitors to eat and drink in the

castle, she does not desire remarriage and wishes for Odysseus’ arrival home. To further avoid

these suitors, she promises them that when she finishes weaving a burial shroud for Odysseus’

father, she will choose a new spouse. After weaving in the day, Penelope unravels the shroud to

deceive the suitors.

Each of these women played a vital role in ​The Odyssey​, from showing the strength of

women to their intelligence. Because sexism was a taboo topic in ancient Greece, the reader is

left to wonder about how Homer’s audience reacted at the time. Perhaps, listeners questioned

Homer and his views and new ideas. Oppositely, some could have ignored or not pay attention to

the female characters who made the story possible.